I Have A WIN Dream

 Teachers,

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

I Have A WIN Dream —

As we start WIN time Monday for 1-3 grades and Tuesday for everyone, I want to share my dream with this program. I think we can get the students that need WIN time to about 10% of our school. When this happens we can have the aides pull students into small groups and teachers can work with the rest of the class on some differentiated activities or small group work. Once that happens we just need to maintain it. To do this we need our Tier 1, what everyone needs, lessons to remain great.  Engaging students, differentiating as students need it, reviewing and assessing to see what each student needs and assessing our lessons, and sharing our success criteria. We have the most amazing teachers in our school. We will always have a couple students in each class that can benefit from a WIN time. And hopefully the beginning of each year we will only need WIN time during the first months. Our next step is to start on Math WIN time. That is a plan we will be working on this year. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows — a wall against the wind.” ― Frank Herbert, Dune

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Sept. 14 - Early Out Teacher Training Day- Red Bird Training 1:30 Mon. Sept. 14 - WIN Time Starts Tues. Sept 15 - Emergency Drill-Shelter in Place Tues. Sept. 15 - Picture Day Thu. Sept. 17 - Egg Drop Build Day Fri. Sept. 18 - Egg Drop Day	Sept. 21-25 - Friendship Week
September 21-25: Start With Hello Week

What I’m Learning about what Parents can do with their Students This Week —

Dreme Family Math

Homework. What to do for homework. Can’t be drill and kill because not all parents know how to help when a student gets lost. Can be review questions to see what the students remember from the lesson. How do we include parents on the lesson. Dreme Family Math. Real life activities with a math spin on them. Cooking is what they have right now. Geared to adding, subtracting, and measurement right now, but more are in their way.

What I’m watching On The Line This Week—

Pandas help zoo keeper sweep their pen

This reminds me of teaching a lesson in Kinder or First grade. Or just trying to prep while there are students in the room.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

Diagnostic Grouping Tool

 Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Diagnostic Grouping Tool —

We will be getting a Spreadsheet that we can use to help group our students. It will take the information from the Diagnostic Assessment Spreadsheet and give us the two skills each student needs to work on.  Hopefully, it will be done this weekend and ready to use next week. I appreciate Steve and Michael Eves for all their hard work on this task. We will adjust it to fit your boards you have created. It will also have links to the lessons for each of the skills they will need taught. 

When we start WIN time we are trying to minimize the movement of students into other classrooms. It will be a challenge, but we will do our best as we make our groups. We will have some of the groups work in the Reading Room with the Aides. They will be cleaning desks sanitizing reading materials. I hope to have a better idea about what this will look like on Tuesday or Wednesday before our Data meeting on Thursday. 

Remember our Data meeting is only 40 minutes so the more you have done as a team before Thursday the easier it will be to assign groups and get the lessons ready to teach.

I really appreciate your patience with all the testing we do at the beginning of the year. Somehow we need to simplify this process.The information is great through and very helpful. We will start progress monitoring the 21st. We will have the grouping sheets ready so you know who to monitor and when. We will review Progress Monitoring the week before we start so everyone knows why and how.

Quote I’m pondering —

"Low self-confidence isn't a life sentence. Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered -- just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better." -- Barrie Davenport

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. August 31 - Annette Brinkman Mon. August 31 - Acadience Testing Gr. K-1 Tue. Sept. 1 - Acadience Testing Gr. 2-3 Wed. Sept. 2 - Acadience Testing Gr. 4-5 Fri. Sept. 4 - Egg Drop Kick-Off Video Presentation	Mon. Sept. 7 - Labor Day (No School Tue. Sept. 8 - WIN Time Starts Wed. Sept. 9 - SEP Conferences 4-7pm Thu. Sept. 10 - SEP Conferences 4-7pm
Sept. 14 - Teacher Training Day (out at 1:15) Red Bird Training Sept. 8 - WIN Time Starts

What I’m Reading This Week —

Less Jargon, More Grace: Using Language That Parents Understand

Since we are sending emails home to parents to let them know of everything that is going on, this is an article that might help parents understand what we are saying better.

What I’m exploring On The Line This Week—

Week of Inspirational Math(s)

Youcubed is a math site built by Jo Boaler from Stanford. You can download specific videos, mindset resources and tasks or you can make a week-long play list of your favorite activities. These playlists can be shared so others can use your design. This is one part of the site.

Thank you for all you do for students. I really enjoy working with all of you. I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Data Nerd

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Data Nerd —

The data is out and the interventions are going amazingly. The data is showing amazing growth in each grade level. If you have not seen the growth in the Conference Room, please stop in and look. When we test in December for PA and Phonics we should see the results we are looking for. We might have a few small groups that need the PA or Phonics and we will keep those groups win. We will have the aides run those small groups and the other aides will work with you in small groups reteaching or differentiating Tier 1 skills. Fluency will be where our focus will be. As fluency builds, so will comprehension skills. We can add in Socratic Seminars, Discussion groups, Jr. great Books, and Literacy circles. These will build fluency and comprehension. What a great day when we are teaching what we need to and not playing catch up.

Quote I’m pondering —

“ When you think someone is a foe, you don't just miss out on feeling their emotions, you also inhibit yourself from thinking their ideas, even if they are right.".-- David Rock

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Oct. 28 - Teacher Training Afternoon Oct. 28 - Nov. 1 - Red Ribbon Week Oct. 29 - 3rd Grade Orchestra Field Trip Oct. 30 - TAT 4th Grade Oct. 31 - Halloween Parade 2:30 pm	Nov. 3 - Daylight Savings Time Change Nov. 4 - Pie with the Principal 9:00 am Nov. 5 - Reflection projects are Due Nov. 5 - TAT 3rd grade
	SEP Conferences - Nov. 11 - 14 Reunification Drill - Nov. 26 Thanksgiving Break - Nov. 27-29

Favorite Article This Week —

The Power of the Positive Phone Call Home

A little phone call home once in a while to share something good about every student will build a relationship when something goes wrong. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you fourth grade. I appreciate your work and help with each other. I appreciate you wanting to build your knowledge of using the LMS in your classrooms. I appreciate that you meet together each week to keep on the same page and help each other with testing and assignments. I appreciate your willingness to learn. Thank you Fourth Grade. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Have a Wonderful Weekend

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Have a Wonderful Weekend —

I hope you are taking a break. Not thinking about school, but just spending time with those you love.

Quote I’m pondering —

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” —Anne Lamott

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Oct. 22 - Storytelling Festival Oct. 23 - Intervention Meetings (schedule below) Oct. 24 - 4th Grade PD Oc. 25 - Meet the Masters Oct. 25 - Aide Training 9:00 am	Oct. 28 - Teacher Training Afternoon out at 1:15 training at 1:30 in library. Oct. 28 - Nov. 1 - Red Ribbon Week Oct. 31 - Halloween Parade 2:45 pm

Favorite App This Week —

Google App for Android. Google App for IOS

This app for your smartphone is amazing. Click on the little dot in a box in the search box and it will open Google Lens. Point it at anything and click the button on the bottom. It will show you that item. Leaf? It will tell you the tree, with 80% accuracy. Bug? Book? Bar code? It will show you online prices. Pretty fun.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, teachers. Thank you for everything you are doing to help students improve their literacy. Thank you for working with the aides and helping them get started. Thank you for seeing the value in the interventions and getting students the help they need so they can be successful. Teachers, what you do is very important. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

+1 Intervention Meeting Schedule

Please make sure you are ready to go with your intervention assessment data. Make sure your data is in the school Assessment spreadsheet. We will be assigning aides and teachers with specific groups and making sure everyone is on the same page. Thank you for all your help.

9:00 - 3rd

10:00 - 2nd

11:00 - 1st

12:30 - 5th

1:30 - Kinder

2:30 - 4th

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Bring On The Tiers

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Bring On The Tiers —

I was reading Timothy Shanahan about his 9 Tiers of Support. There was a lot to it so I think we should stick to the 3 Tiers of Support. We need a little clarification on the 3 Tiers. They have been around for many years, but there might be a few misconceptions about the different Tiers. The 3 Tier Model of Support is to help efficiently match students to instruction needed. It also helps make decisions using ongoing data to support students in their learning. So let me break it down with a quick review of the 3 Tiers of Support. 

Tier 1 is for all students. They are taught the same skill as a whole group or in small groups. Small groups are a good way to differentiate the skill into who needs a little more but are part of the same rotation all students are a part of. Some groups might need more scaffolding on that skill or can have an extension, but everyone is taught the same skill. We use Research-based effective instruction and differentiate as needed for students. If they do not understand the skill or concept we differentiate in Tier 1 to teach and help students understand. This should cause the vast majority of students to perform at grade level. Usually, about 80% of the class will fall into this group. If it is not around 80% differentiating is needed with more scaffolding of concepts.

Tier 2 is designed as additional instruction for students who are at risk on a screener test (Acadience Reading, Phonemic Awareness Test, Core Phonics, R4R BenchmarkTest, etc.). The purpose of Tier 2 is to catch up with students who are at risk so they can reach the benchmark goal. Instruction is in a small group with a more narrow range of skills with more explicit instruction and frequent progress monitoring. Tier 2 is in addition to, not instead of, Tier 1 instruction. If we do small groups in our class, the lowest group is not an intervention group unless the teacher is having an additional small group with those students. Students should never come out of core reading or math instruction to get Tier 2 instruction. Our Intervention Groups are designed as Tier 2 groups because they are in addition to the work we do in our class. Students should not be in Tier 2 for a long time. Usually, about 15% of the class will fall in this group at different times and with different skills. Tier 2 is often delivered in groups of 4-6 for 30 minutes 3-5 times per week.

Tier 3 is intensive support, unique and individualized. Tier 3 is used to minimize the problem and correct it over time. It is in addition to Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. If the deficit is severe it is not required to go to Tier 2 first. Research-based intervention materials in small groups or with individuals. Finding what will enable learning. Is special education needed? After Tier 1 and Tier 2 data are being collected bring to TAT to find other options and strategies. Usually, about 5% of the class will fall into this group. Tier 3 is often delivered in groups of 4-6 for 30 minutes 3-5 times per week.

The 3 Tiers of Support help us identify needs among students. All decisions about the tiers of support are data-based. When we finish the interventions in a couple of weeks we should see our numbers decline in needs for Tier 2 interventions and get to the 15-20% of students in our school that need Tier 2.

Quote I’m pondering —

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” —T.S. Eliot

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Oct. 7 - Pie With The Principal 9:30 am Tue. Oct. 8 - Jog-a-Thon Money Due Tue. Oct 8 - School Board visiting Chinese Classrooms 12:30-1:15 Tue. Oct. 8 - PTA Meeting 12:00 pm Wed. Oct. 9 - TAT First Grade 8:00 am Wed. Oct 9 - DLI Meeting	Oct. 14-16 & 21-25 - No rotations  Oct. 17-18 - Fall Break
	Oct. 23 - Intervention Meetings Oct. 28 - Teacher Training Afternoon Oct. 28 - Nov. 1 - Red Ribbon Week

Favorite Article This Week —

Too Late To Apologize: A Declaration

Great Video about the American Revolution. Never knew the founding fathers could rock like this. Enjoy.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, Coach Shane and the PE Aide Coaches. We appreciate your willingness to work with our students and help them through life when you are working in PE. We appreciate the work you put in to have activities for the students and helping them enjoy PE. We appreciate you building a love of physical education with the students in all the different ways you teach exercise. We also appreciate it when there are short days or holidays your flexibility to accommodate most of the classes. And it's a class need to miss that you will help make up the missed days. I also appreciate the help Coach Shane gives us on Fridays with the store and with other activities that happen on Fridays. Thank you, coaches, for all you do for our students. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and everything you do for the students.

I Had A Vision

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

I Had A Vision —

I have been thinking about Interventions quite a bit and thinking of where it is going has become more and more clear. I am seeing the interventions changing over time and as more students fill their gaps teachers will be remediating their Tier 1 content while aides fill in gaps. Over the next few years, I am hoping it will look like this throughout the year. At the beginning of the year we assess student needs in literacy and start our intervention groups. After a month or two, the intervention groups will get smaller and end up being a couple groups that can be managed by the Aides. If there are only now or two groups the other aides can help with remediation of Tier 1 concepts. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? As soon as the interventions taught reach where the grade level should be in their Tier 1 lessons, it becomes Tier 1 and the aides can help with differentiation. That is the dream. That is the vision. I want to Intervene aides out of their intervention jobs and have them help remediate Tier 1. There will always be 10-15% that will need an intervention, but that is a better issue than 50%+ in interventions. You are all amazing. Thank you for all you are doing with the interventions.

Quote I’m pondering —

I think that the most proud moments I’ve had in my career are after failures, when you kind of learn that the sun also rises and the world keeps spinning when you fail and when you succeed. -- Christen Press 

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Sept. 30 - Service Dog Training Wed. Oct. 2 - Walk to School Day Wed. Oct. 2 - Parent Learning Walk 9:30 am Wed. Oct. 2 - TAT Second Grade 8:00 am Fri. Oct. 4 - PTA Jog-a-Thon Fri. Oct. 4 - Reflections Starts	Mon. Oct. 7 - Pie With The Principal 9:30 am Tue. Oct. 8 - Jog-a-Thon Money Due Tue. Oct. 8 - PTA Meeting 12:00 pm Wed. Oct. 2 - TAT Second Grade 8:00 am
	Oct. 17-18 - Fall Break  Oct. 28 - Nov. 1 - Red Ribbon Week

Favorite Article This Week —

Reading Aloud to Kids and Why Lessons Need Purposes

Interesting article that Timothy Shanahan wrote. Everything we do with students should be

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Third Grade. Thank you for all you have done with interventions. I appreciate how well you work together as a team. Talking every day, keeping in touch with students, and helping each other. Thank you for all you do to help some of your students that need a little extra. Taking into account some of the baggage they come with and giving them a little extra support. Thank you for building relationships with the students. Thank you for all you do for kids. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

First Week Assessments? Check!

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

First Week Assessments? Check! —

What a first week. I hope you were able to get your testing done, or at least get most of it done. We have a few aides will be able to help you. Please let me know if you need some help finishing up the testing. As you get this information put into the spreadsheet (change your size to 75% so you can see it better) it should give you a better picture of what needs your students have in literacy. This will help in all subject areas as we have students read and understand what they are doing. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can't have it." -- Dr. Robert Anthony

What’s Happening —

This Coming Week	In Two Weeks
Mon. Aug. 19- First day of Kindergarten Mon. Aug. 19 - First day of PE Mon. Aug. 19 - Library and Computer Start Turs. Aug. 22 - PE	Tues. Aug. 27 - Acadience testing (All day) Wed. Aug. 28 - SEP Conf. 4-7pm Thu. Aug. 29 - SEP Conf. 4-7pm Fri. Aug. 30 - Evaluation Training 8am Fri. Aug. 30 - PTA Room Mom Meeting 1:00
Upcoming Dates - Mon. Sept. 2 - Labor Day. No School

Favorite Smartphone Apps This Week —

You have read a lot this week and so I thought I would give you a list of apps to check out. This is a list of Apps on either Apple or Android devices. They are helpful in a lot of places. 

GasBuddy- This shows gas prices everywhere you go. Good to have on vacation or just to look at what prices are wherever you are.

Duolingo- If you don’t have this app it is a great way to learn a little Chinese, or Spanish, or even Navajo. Stretch your language usage. 

Star Chart- What a great app when you are outside at night looking at the stars. Or even during the day and you are learning about stars and planets. 

Snapseed- This is a photo editing app. If you like editing photos this is a pretty good one. 

Flush- Yes this is an app for finding the nearest public bathroom. You may think it is funny, but when you need one, this is the app to have. It does not tell you the name of the place you are going to, but there is a bathroom there.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, teachers, aides, staff, and everyone for working to get everything done this first week of school. I appreciate all the work you put into your jobs. Please know that I appreciate what you do. From the lunch aides to the custodians to the teachers and secretaries. There is so much you do to make students successful and make this school a safe place for students to come every day. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Excitement in the Air

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Excitement in the Air —

I don’t know about you but I am excited to see how well our students do next week on the DIBELS test. With the work that has been done in Power 50 and the lessons, Jennifer has been teaching us about learning intentions and making sure students understand what they are learning and why. With these new things we are doing, I hope to see improvement. There is a new part of the test for students to be tested on in the younger grades, but we should still see improvement in our students. I know many of you have expressed that you have seen improvement as you have been progress monitoring your students. I am excited to see what our next steps will be when we see where our students are now. Thank you for all you do.

Quote I’m pondering —

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

What’s Happening This Week —

Mon., Jan 14 - 8:15am HAL Testing for first grade

Mon., Jan 14 - DIBELS for K-3

Mon., Jan 14 - District Grade Level Training K-1 (optional)

Tues., Jan 15 - DIBELS for 4-5 in morning

Tues., Jan 15 - District Grade Level Training 2-3 (optional)

Wed., Jan 16 - District Grade Level Training 4-5 (optional)

Thur., Jan 17 - 1:00pm LRI Band for 5th grade

Thur., Jan 17 - 2:30pm Community Council Meeting

Mon., Jan 21 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (No School)

Favorite Article and Video This Week —

This Teacher's Innovative Way Of Teaching 'Vowels' and 'Consonants' is Winning the Internet

A reminder that there is always a different way to teach something if the way we have been teaching does not work for some students.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you second and third-grade teachers. You have really put your work in with the students and with teaching two grades. There have been some special times that have given you the opportunity to learn and grow with4 your students. Thank you for all the time you commit to helping your students. Thank you for finding alternatives to help those in need. We appreciate all your work and time you put in. You are important for those students in your classes. They need you and you show that you care. Thank you for all you do and thank you for all you have done. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

The Instructional Focus

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

The Instructional Focus  —

The instructional Focus in our school has been improving our Phonics and Phonemic Awareness in all grades, improving fluency and writing in the upper grades, and improving science instruction in the classroom and in the lab. At the beginning of the year, we found that we had a real need for Phonics and Phonemic Awareness as we tested students with Dibels and the Core Phonics Assessment. This led to more instruction in the younger grades with those specific areas and fluency in the upper grades. We are just touching the surface with the writing instruction in 2-5 grades. When we found the deficit in Phonics and PA, the writing piece was pushed to the back because the building blocks of reading and writing needed to be focused upon. Working with Jennifer and Sara this year has been an eye-opener for me to see why students are not reading and writing well in the upper grades. When the basics are not met, they cannot move on to the next step. That makes it harder for all of us, so we needed to concentrate more on the Phonics and PA. Once students have these two firmly in their grasp the next parts of reading and writing come so much easier. I am excited to see the improvement in our students through the lessons and teaching you are doing in the classrooms that is making a huge difference in students reading and writing abilities. The information text geared toward science in the classroom is making a difference also. We are hoping the new reading program will help every more. It has great stories and lessons built on science. The lessons Shelly is teaching and the hands-on activities are going to help students as they see and feel the way science works in their lives. We will see amazing progress in our students this year and over the next few years. Thank you for all your hard work.

Quote I’m pondering —

"If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if it's good or bad." —Miles Davis

What I am Watching —

Let's Teach Kids to Code

Coding is more than a way to write computer programs. This Ted talk teaches what it can do for kids in their lives.

Another Favorite Article This Week —

Using the Socratic Seminar to Improve Classroom Discussions

A little reminder about the Socratic Seminar information Kristen and Alma presented a week ago. The challenge is there

A Big Thank You —

Thank you all teachers that wrote grants for your students for all you do.  Hailey, Irene(2x), Elena, Adriana, Merced, Jaime, Mar, Scott, Julie, and Kathy. 11 teachers received grants. That is amazing. Every teacher that wrote a grant, got one. Next year everyone should write one. That would be amazing. Thank you, teachers, for taking the time and taking a chance to write the grant. We have an amazing school that is always looking for something that will help our students get better. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.